Apparatus for stretching belts



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M. GANDY.

APPARATUS FOR STRETGHING'BELTS.

No. 388,551.. Patented Aug. 28, 1888.

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M. GANDY. APPARATUSPOR STRETGHING BELTS. No. 388,551; Patented Aug. 28,1888.

WITNESSES: 8 INVENTOR- ATTORNEY:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MAURICE GANDY, OF LIVERPOOL, COUNTY OF LANCASTER, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR STRETCHING BELTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 388,551, dated August28, 1888. Application filed September 2, 1884. Serial No. 142,072. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MAURICE GANDY, asubject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing in Liverpool, county of Lancaster, England, haveinvented a new and Improved Apparatus for Stretching Belts for DrivingMachinery, of which the following is adescription in such full, clear,concise, and exact terms as to enable any one skilled in the arts towhich said invention appertains, or with which it is most nearlyconnected, to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making part-of this specification, and to thefigures and letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 of said drawings is aside elevation of one form of my saidapparatus, illustrating a belt in process of being stretched; Fig. 2, anelevation of one end of the same, showing one set of pulleys partiallyin section; Fig. 3, a side elevation of said end view, showing the planof carrying the pulleys upon the frame of the apparatus. Fig. 4 is aside elevation of a modified form of said apparatus adapted moreespecially to the stretching of endless belts. Fig. 6 is a top view ofFig. 4. Fig. 5 1s a drawing of one of the parts in detail applicable toall the figures. Fig. 7 isa plan, and Fig. 8 a longitudinal section,of aclasping device for uniting the ends of the belt to each other in thestretching-machine.

The object of my invention is to stretch machine-belting as a part ofthe process of manufacturing it, and especially cotton beltlng, toitsultimate elasticity, in all its parts exactly alike, and in suchmanner that the normal condition of the new belt,when placed upon thepulleys, in point of elasticity will be the same as after it has been along time in actual servicer This object can only be accomplished byplacing the belt in the stretching apparatus and stretching it underprecisely the same conditions that obtain when the new belt is first putin operation and stretches upon the pulleys while in actual service. Thebelt should be stretched alike in all its parts by an equal strainapplied to various points along its entire length and until the fiberand threads of the fabric have been drawn out to their ultimateelasticity. The belt should then be held and operated in that conditionin the stretching apparatus until the tendency of the fabric to reacthas disappeared and the elongated condition of the new belt becomes apart of its normal status. Taking the elasticity out of the belt duringthe operation of manufacturing it and as an elementin its manufacture isa matter of very great importance, as well upon the score of economy asupon that of convenience. A belt, say of one hundred feet in length,made of the best material and in the best manner now known tobelt-makers, will st;ech from seven to fifteen per centum of its length.If, then, this elasticity is taken out of the belt and provided for byand during the process of making it, this percentage of material andlabor is saved, as is also the annoyance and inconvenience of taking upthe belt after it has been put in service.

7 It will be readily understood that a belt may be so long and heavythat a power gripped to one end of it merely for the purpose of movingit lengthwise would have to be so great as to tear the fabric at thepoint of gripping in merely overcoming the inertia of the belt. In thiscase the fabric would. be stretched to its maximum at-and near the pointof gripping, while at the opposite end it, would not be stretched atall. This is a principle that holds good in all cases in stretchingbelts by the application of power to one or both of its ends,

as described and illustrated in my patent of December 26, 1881. Thefabric will be sufficiently stretched at and near the point of gripping,but will be insufficiently stretched as the distance increases from thatpoint; Whereasthe strain upon a belt in actual service is continuallyshifting to every point of its length, and is therefore stretchedexactly alike through its entire length.

Another object of my invention is to stretch a number of belts in thesame machine at the same ti ine,and also to stretch a number of endlessbelts of different lengths in the same machine at the same time, andalso to save the very great labor of handling heavy belts in theoperation of stretching them.

Fig.1 of the drawings illustrates a stretching apparatus consistingsubstantially of a frame composed ofstout timbers A. Upon each end ofthis frame,in suitable bearings or journal-boxes, is mounted a series ofshafts or gudgeons, J, upon each of which there is placed a series ofloose pulleys, B, as illustrated by Fig. 2, the corresponding pulleys onthe several shafts, as they raise one above the other, being all made ofthe same width, the belt rising from the lowest pulley to the next abovein the same vertical plane to the top, there being six pulleys on eachshaft, making room forsiX distinct belts in the same machine at the sametime, the belts all being of the samewidths with the pulleys. The belts,however, may vary in width. One beltmay be of the width of two or morepulleys, while another may be not more than half the width of any onepulley, without in any way affect ing the principle or operation of themachine.

In operating this machine I make use of an ordinary hoisting-engine todraw the belt over the pulleys and stretch it in the first instance. Ibegin by securing one end of the belt, at I, say, to the end ofa stoutrope, L, provided with a suitable hook, as shown, the opposite end ofthe rope L being secured in the block 0, or drawn through it to thehoisting-engine, as may be desired.

as at I. This rope is then laced over the several loose pulleys, oneabove the other, as shown by D, the end being carried through the blocksR and O, and thence to the barrel of the hoisting-engine, by which thebelt is drawn over the pulley, as shown by D D. As much strain is thenput upon the belt by the hoisting-engine as it will bear in thatposition, the strain being applied to either one or both ends of thebelt by connecting one or both ropes L, and H, upon the barrel orbarrels of the stretcher, as may be desired. The

belt being thus drawn up to its proper tension, 7

may now be moved to and fro on the pulleys under high tension byreversing the motion of stretching apparatus, thus continually changingthe points of support and strain upon it as it passes over the pulleys,either in one direction or the other, following the rope over the barrel0r barrels of the hoisting-engine or other suitable apparatus, of whichthere are many that may be employed to draw and stretch the belt in themachine. A modification of this method of stretching the belt is showninthe drawings by the dotted line P. By this method the belt is drawn overthe pulleys, as above described; but in this case the two ends of thebelt, after being drawn over the pulleys, instead of being connectedupon the barrel or barrels of the hoisting-engine, are joined togetherat 1 by means of a clasp or coupling device, illustrated by Figs. 7 and8, or any equivalent device which, while firmly securing the ends of thebelt, will run freely around the pulleys, which are the essentialcharacteristics of the device illustrated.

The respective ends of the belt being laced through the bars of theclasp in the manner shown, are securely held by it, making the beltcontinuous over the pulleys B, in addition to the pulleys B. The beltbeing drawn over these pulleys and the ends joined, as above de- Theother end of the belt I V is then secured to a stout rope, H, the samescribed, it is comparatively slack and must be drawn tight to stretchit. To obtain the necessary stretching strain or tension upon the beltin this case, I apply to each of the pulleyshafts J and S, or as many ofthem as may be necessary, a stretching-screw N, as shown in Fig. 4, orany suitable substitute for such a screwas, for example, that shown byC, Fig. 1. By means of these stretching or tension screws I can get anydesired strain on the belt at many different points in its length, andby making the pulleys on one of the shafts fast pulleys and applyingpower to that shaft I can run the belt over the whole of the pulleys asan endless belt,tightening up the stretchingscrews from time to timeuntil the ultimate stretching capacity of the belt is reached, the claspP being hinged together in the center, so as to pass readily over thepulleys. By these means I get precisely the conditions that obtain inoperating a belt in actual service, and in stretching it I get preciselythe same result. I get a new belt out of which the elastic element hasbeen permanently taken in the process of making and preparing it formarket.

By Figs. 4 and 6 of the drawings is shown a modified form of the machineespecially adapted to the stretching of endless belts. In this machine,as in the others, the stretchingscrews N are applied to both ends of thepulley-shafts J, and the pulleys B are of different diameters, by whichseveral endless belts of different lengths may be stretched on the samemachine at the same time. The pillow-blocks that carry the shafts J andconnect to the stretching-screws are set in recesses cutin the timbers,and slide in dovetail or grooved bearings, as shown in section by Fig.5. For stretching endless belts the pulley shaft J should project beyondeach side of the frame far enough to carry a pulley, as shown by Figs. 5and 6. By these means the belts are readily slipped on the pulleys; butshould the pulley be put inside of the frame, as also shown by Figs. 5and 6, the caps of the pillow-blocks must be made removable, that theshaft may be raised out of its bearing far enough to en able the belt tobe slipped onto the pulley.

In the construction of the machine, where the work is heavy, to keep theshafts J from springing I place bearing-pieces V between the pulleys, asin Fig. 6, to support the shafts, and also to serve as guides to keepthe beltsin their proper position on the pulleys. I have alsocontemplated the use of a second shaft fitted with loose pulleys Y andset directly behind the shafts J, the face of the pulleys Y bearingagainst the face of the pulleys B and acting as a support to the shaftJ, both shafts to be carried by the sliding block of the tension screwsin all cases where they are applied to the pulley-shaft, thesupporting-pulleys to be applied to all the pulleys, B and B, in case ofneed.

I am aware that the objects proposed to be accomplished by the abovedescribed apparatus have for the most part been attempted ICO by othersby means of machines of different construction and. operation. It mustbe understood, therefore, that my invention is limited to the means,substantially hereinafter claimed, of stretching my belts.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. The means substantiallyherein described ofstretching belts as part of the process of man ufacturing and preparingthem for the market, which means consist of a frame, a series of shaftscarried by said frame placed at suitable distances apart, a series ofstretching-pulleys mounted upon each of said shafts, and stretchingdevices with which said pulleys are provided.

2. In a belt-stretching machine, the combination of a frame, a series ofshafts carried by said frame and placed at suitable distances apart, aseries of stretching-pulleys mounted upon each of said shafts, andmechanism, substantially as described, independent of the belt and thetension applied thereto, for communieating motion to said pulleys,substantially as on the same shafts is materially augmented,

substantially as described.

6. In the process of stretching belts, the means substantially hereindescribed of securing the ends of the belt, while at the same time thebelt iskept taut and is permitted to run freely around the pulley in theoperation of stretching, which means consists of the adjustable claspinto which the respective ends of the belt are drawn and secured,substantially as described.

MAURICE GANDY.

Witnesses:

WM. H. BROADNAX, AMos BROADNAX.

